Air louver for heating or cooling units



Oct. 17, 1950 H. J. LANGE AIR LOUVER FOR HEATING 0R .coounc; nuns HJIgENTOR.

Filed July 15, 1946 Patented Oct. 17, 1950 V i Henna-L Lange, HammonInda i mr tcB Gwnmtmn;

- Indiana v Th present -t as at was heating or cooling'un'its. ,k f Theinvention has particular 'applicationto heating or cooling units pfthetypev comprising a bank of tubes or coils throughwhi'ch the heat-'.ing or cooling medium is circulated, and on which tubes or coils areassembled sheet metal fins which serve asrair directing or'distributingsurfaces and wh h s serve as thermal ra er s rfaces or increasing theeffectiveheating or cooling surfaces of the tubes. The general objectoffthe present invention isto provide an improved construction of air"deflecting louvers which are made up as integral parts of the sheetmetal fins'in the manufacture of the latter. These improved airdeflecting louvers are punched directly from the sheet metal fins in theform of louver tabs inclined at the desired angle to direct the aireither upwardly, downwardly,'or in any other desired direction.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved constructionof louver tab which is of shorter dimension along its free'edg'e thanalong its base portion, whereby the louver tabs of adjacent fins can bereadily nested together in the tab openings of these fins, and wherebythe louvers adapt themselves either to a parallel assembly of the finsfor a flat type of heating or cooling unit, or to a radial'ass-embl'y ofthe fins for a curved'or half-round type of unit.

Other'objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear fromthe following detailed description of one preferred embodiment thereof.In the accompanying drawing illustrating such embodiment:

Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view through proximately on the-plane"of 'the' fi d of'Figfure 3; and

Figures 6 and '7 are fragmentary side and edge views respectively of oneof the fins on a larger scale, showing in greater detail the trapezoidalproportions-of the louver tab and tab opening. In Figures 1 and 2 I haveshown a mere or less conventionaldesign of half-roundcooling unit mmnInd, a. corp at n of. v

lieatign July 15; 1946, Serial No.- 683,733

ql aime. (c1. gem-.137)

adaptedfor cooling a circulated flow of air, but it will be understoodthat this type of structure hasbeen chosen merely. for the purpose ofshowing one typical or preferred adaptation of my invention,.'and thatthe invention can also be adapted to other heating. or cooling units. Inthis exemplary unit, the top and bottom of the unit are closed by upperand lower housing plates i D and i l of semi-circular outline. Thestraight rear edges are joined to a vertical rear wall 12, and thearcuate edges are curved inwardly at as to conceal the top and bottomedges of the sheet metal I fins. The cooling medium iscirculated throughth tubes M which are bent into arcuate outlines corresponding to thehalf round contour of the. unit, these tubes preferably being grouped orassernbled in vertical tiers, three such tiers or vertical rows beinshown. Mounted on these tubes are the sheet metal fins. is and I! whichdirect; the air radially outwardly from the unit, and

which also serve to increase the effective surface area through whichthe tubes exert their cooling influence on the air. These fins haveopenings punched therein through which the tubes are passed, the finsbeing threaded over the tubes prior to the establishment of the coupledconnections at the ends of the tubes. Air is circulated through the unitby a fan l9 revolving within an air intake opening 2 l formed in thelower wall l I of the housing. This fan is driven by an electric motor22' which is supported in any suitable mounting bracket 23, preferablyattached to the top wall Illof the housing. Thefan functions to drawair, upwardly through the intake opening Hand to impel the .airoutwardly through the multiplicity of spaces between the horizontal rowsof tubes l4 and between the vertically p ced fin 6 n I!- Y The louverswhich constitute the fundamental feature of the present invention areshown at 251' These louvers consist of tabs or vanes which are puncheddirectly out of the sheet metal fins I]. Preferably, in the "halferoundtype of unit the outer tier of tubes :4 is provided with sepaate fins.11, independ nt o th n mounted 011 th Yinner. tier or tiers of tubes,and the louver ta arepreferably formedonly in these outer fins I.However, if desired'similar louver tabs might also be punchedin theinner fins i5, it. These,

louver" tabs orvanes are inclined at the appropriate angle to direc t eair in the e i d metion, i, e. if'it is desired that a substantial part.

of "the a. e deflected i a upward rect n.

these louver, tabs" are inclined substantially at the upward angleshown;whereas'if 'it' is dea sired that the air be deflected downwardly, thenthese louver tabs would be inclined reversely so as to deflect the airdownwardly. The punching of the tabs or tongues can be performed as asingle punching and bending operation, wherein the punch pierces or cutsthe metal around three edges of the tab, and then bends the tablaterally into a position projecting substantially at right angles tothe plane of the fin. Of course, the outward bending of the tab 25leaves an opening 23 of corresponding outline in the sheet metal stock,which opening I shall term the tab opening. Each tab 25 and its opening26 are of approximately trapezoidal outline, with the free edge 25' ofthe tab of shorter dimension than the base portion 25" of the tab.Correspondingly, this leaves the edge 26 of the opening 23 of shorterdimension than the opposite edge 25" This trapezoidal outline of thetabs and of the openings enables the tabs to be nested together,

with the tabs extending. into the openings in adjacent fins, as shown inFigure 5. The overlapped relation of the tabs produces a continuouslouver structure without any break in its continuity from end to end ofthe cooling or heating unit.

This overlapped relation of the tabs, and the ability of the tabs toslide inwardly and outwardly of the openings 25: in adjacentfins,affords a' very desirable latitude of assembly because the fins can beassembl d in parallel relation for a fiat type of unit, or they can beassembled in radial relation for a curved or half-round type of unit,without in any way interfering with the functional relation of thelouver tabs.

Each fin is also punched with the necessary holes 28 for receiving thetubes l4. Each hole 28 is preferably formed with an annular lip orflange 29 projecting laterally from the sheet metal fin. This flange 25increases the metal-to-metal contact between the fin and each tube.These flanges also act as spacers for spacing the inner edge portions ofthe fins at a substantially predetermined distance from each other. Saidflanges are of less height or lateral projection than the louver tabs25, so that with the fins assembled at the lateral spacing substantiallypredetermined by the circular flanges 29, the louver tabs 25 will stillproject into the openings 26 of the next adjacent fins and establish theoverlapping relation of adjacent tabs. As shown in Figure 3, the louvertabs are preferably located where they will act most efiectively on thatportion of the air stream flowing horizontally between pairs of tubes I4. In the upwardly inclined relation of the tabs the lower edges of thetabs are approximately in such relation to the tubes I i that aconsiderable part of any moisture collecting on the tabs can drain backonto the surfaces of the tubes. The fins are preferably stamped out ofsheet aluminum, but may be made of other metal if desired.

For a fiat type of heating or cooling unit where the tubes l4 extend instraight line relation back and forth across the unit, the fins I! canbe punched out identically as described above for the half-round type ofunit. Figure 3 might be considered to be a transverse section throughsuch a fiat type. As an alternative construction for the fiat type ofunit, the fins may be made considerably wider, corresponding to the finsI6, 16 and I! of Figure3 being made all in one piece.

The invention has utility in heating units as well as in cooling units,and accordingly in the appended claims I have used the expressionsthermal exchange unit and thermal exchange tubes to cover both types ofconstruction.

While I have illustrated and described what I regard to be the preferredembodiment of my invention, nevertheless it will be understood that suchis merely exemplary and that numerous modifications and rearrangementsmay be made therein without departing from the essence of the invention.

I'cla im:

1. In a thermal exchange unit of half-round type including a housingcomprising spaced upper and lower plates of semi-circular form, a bankofheat transfer tubes curved in semi-circular outline and disposedbetween said upper and iower plates, an air intake opening in one ofsaid plates, a fan rotating approximately in said opening for drawingair into the space between said plates and forcing it outwardly betweensaid tubes, an electric motor connected to drive said fan, and

a plurality of sheet metal fins having apertures with laterallyprojecting flanges, said fins being assembled over said bank of tubeswith said fins disposed" substantially radially of the unit and saidflangesspacing the adjacent fins; means for directing the" flowof saidair forced outwardly between said tubes and said fins comprising louvertabs, 'of' trapezoidal outline punched out of said fins leaving,correspondingly shaped openings in said fins, said louver tabsprojecting laterally from their respective fins and'extending into thetab openings of the next adjacent fins, whereby to form a substantiallycontinuous louver around the air discharge opening of said unit.

v 2. A cooling unit comprising a plurality of tubes for receiving acoolant therein, said tubes being curved in semi-circular outline andbeing spaced one above the other to form a cylindrical bank, means onthe concave side of said cylindrical bank for circulating air throughsaid cylindrical bank and discharging the same on the convex sidethereof, a plurality of sheet metal fins having apertures therein inwhich said tubes are positioned, said fins being spaced with respect toeachother and extending radially of said cylindrical bank of tubes, andlouver tabs punched out of said fins on the side of said cylindricalbank from which the air is discharged forming openings in said fins,said louver tabs being inclined upwardly and extending from theirrespective fins with end portions thereof extending into openings in thenext adjacent fins, to thereby form a plurality of substantiallycontinuous upwardly inclined louvers positioned in the path of the airdischarged through said bank of tubes for directing the discharged airin an upward direction.

3. A cooling unit comprising a plurality of tubes for receiving acoolant with said tubes being spaced one above the other to form a bank,means on one side of said bank for circulating air through said bank anddischarging the same on the opposite side thereof, a plurality of sheetmetal fins having apertures therein in which said tubes are positioned,said fins being spaced with respect to each other and extendingsubstantially perpendicular to said tubes of said bank, and louver tabspunched out of said fins on the side of said bank from which the air isdischarged, said louver tabs being inclined upwardly and extending fromtheir respective fins toward the adjacent fins to form a substantiallycontinuous louver positioned in the path of the air discharged throughsaid bank of tubes for directing the discharged air in an upwarddirection.

. HENRY J. LAN'GE,

(References on following page) 5 REFERENCES CITED Number The followingreferences are of record in the file of thls patent. 2:153:120 UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 6 2,128,145 Number Name Date 821,698 Briscoe May 29, 19061,853,315 Modine Apr. 12, 1932 Number 1,920,357 Clark Aug. 1, 1933321320 1,957,292 Reeves May 1, 1934 10 Name Date Krackowizer Dec. 11,1934 Young Feb. 26, 1935 Ludlow et a1 Apr. 4, 1939 Cook Sept. 30, 1947FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Nov. 21, 1929

